You can bet
Larry Donnell
, fantasy football team owner, will have Larry Donnell of the New York Giants in the tight end slot for Sunday's NFL games. He learned his lesson last week.

The former Carroll High School star benched himself in favor of two-time Pro Bowler Vernon Davis of the San Francisco 49ers in his fantasy lineup last week.

Davis gimped around with back spasms before leaving the 49ers' 26-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Donnell
caught three touchdowns passes
for the Giants. The results? The Giants beat the Washington Redskins 45-14, and Donnell's fantasy team lost.

"Would've won if I played me,"
Donnell told
NorthJersey.com after practice on Wednesday. "During the game, I'm like, 'Really?' That's the honest truth."

Donnell said he'd have himself in his lineup for fantasy NFL's Week 5. The Giants host the Falcons at noon CDT Sunday in the real-life NFL's Week 5.

Donnell has been a surprise in the fantasy-football world. He's been the same for the Giants.

Donnell was a quarterback in high school, where he played with
Steve McLendon
, now the nose tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers, in Ozark, a close-knit community that
Donnell described
to the New York Daily News as "a town of 10,000 people, and maybe 5,000 are cousins."

Donnell converted from quarterback to tight end while at Grambling State.

"I was a pretty good quarterback,"
Donnell said
last week. "But in high school, man, you just had that one read. If he wasn't there, you'd put it down and run. College was a whole different ballgame, a whole different monster. I figured I'd try something a little easier."

Donnell threw two collegiate passes, and one went for a 51-yard touchdown.

"He was like throwing a javelin out there," Rod Broadway, Grambling's coach at the time, told the New York Post. "We thought tight end would be a good move, and, obviously, it worked out well for him. He could run, he could catch, he could jump, he was a heck of a basketball player and he just had a skill-set that you look for. He saw it as his best chance to be on the field."

Donnell caught on with the Giants' practice squad in 2012. Last season, he saw regular duty on special teams, but caught only three passes. This season, he leads New York with 25 receptions, including four for touchdowns.

"I've always felt the time would come, I just never knew when," Donnell said. "Being able to help the team is a dream come true. It's been fun. It's been an experience. It's just a shock that everything's happening so fast."

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In a conference call with Atlanta media, Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Donnell had worked his way into New York's starting lineup, but could be even better.

"He's worked very hard,"
Coughlin said
. "He's worked his way up through the ranks. He's a talented young man. But when he first came to us, you're talking about a guy who was in a position that was foreign to him. He's advanced, and we see a young man who is certainly making progress. He continues to have a ways to go."